In case you'd forgotten

The message from Keith Ellison? MeToo, but not me. But Pepperidge Farm remembers:

On Wednesday afternoon, another of Franken’s Minnesota congressional colleagues, Rep. Betty McCollum, said the growing number of allegations make it “impossible for him to be an effective senator for Minnesota.” Rep. Keith Ellison also called for Franken to resign.

That was December 6, 2017. Now?

Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison on Sunday denied an allegation from an ex-girlfriend that he had once dragged her off a bed while screaming obscenities at her — an allegation that came just days before a Tuesday primary in which the congressman is among several Democrats running for state attorney general.

The allegation first surfaced Saturday night from Karen Monahan after her son alleged in a Facebook post that he had seen hundreds of angry text messages from Ellison, some threatening his mother. He also wrote he had viewed a video in which Ellison dragged Monahan off the bed by her feet. Monahan, a Minneapolis political organizer, said via Twitter that what her son posted was "true."

Question for the audience -- should Franken call for Ellison to step down?

No need to be coy, Roy

Random observations, following the news from Alabama.

• I thought Roy Moore would win, but then again I though Hillary Clinton would win, too. It's difficult to make predictions about the voting patterns in a state you've never visited and, at best, any observations I could have made about the race would have been from a great distance and based on, at best, third-hand information. 
• I suspect at least a few of Moore's accusers were lying, but there was enough underlying truth to the reports, and enough of an ick factor involved, that Moore was going to be tough to defend. Doug Jones, his opponent, is a down-the-line leftist and, in the end, the seat will go back the other way. Of course, a lot of damage can obtain in the interim. Expect a lot of posturing from the usual suspects -- Collins, Flake, Corker, et al. -- through the next year. But I suspect the Democrats will overplay their hand, because they always do.
• The one thing I'm certain of is this -- if Al Franken were thinking about using a Moore victory as an excuse to stay in the Senate, that excuse is now gone. I recommend Franken and Garrison Keillor go out and start a new Chautauqua circuit so they can sneer at the people who deserve it. Perhaps they can do a morality play skit in which they expiate their sins by ululating in the general direction of an intersectional feminist planted in the audience.
• I'm also wondering if the purges are going to slow down now -- the mob isn't going to materialize against Trump any more than it did against Bill Clinton, and for the same reason -- unless people are hurting in the wallet, they aren't ready to upset the applecart. I've long suspected Nixon would have survived if there hadn't been gas lines and other underlying economic tensions in the era.

Good riddance

Al Franken resigned, sort of, from the Senate yesterday. It almost appeared he was trying to leave himself a little wiggle room, though:

 Facing a barrage of sexual harassment complaints and calls to step down from friends and foes alike, Sen. Al Franken took to the floor of the U.S. Senate Thursday to announce he would resign — a swift and historic fall for an unlikely Minnesota politician who had become one of the Democratic Party’s most recognizable leaders.

Franken was quick to explain that he was stepping down not because he thought he had done something wrong, but because he had determined that Minnesotans deserved a senator who wasn’t distracted by mounting allegations and a looming Senate Ethics Committee investigation.

Would resign. He hasn't yet. Could he try to wait it out and rescind his resignation if, say, the citizens of Alabama send Roy Moore to the Senate next week? If Mark Dayton delays announcing his replacement, that might be the game, but I don't it will happen. The moment Franken tried to wiggle out of the mess, more accusers would surface. I bet the eight women we've heard from are only a fraction of the people whose experiences would be something Franken "remembers differently." It would be helpful if, some day, a reporter would actually ask Franken precisely how his recollections differ from the accusations, and why we should choose to believe him. That question doesn't seem to get asked very much.

The long game for the Democrats is to go after Le Grand Orange, of course. Everything they do these days is designed to get rid of Trump. I don't know that it will work, though. For every scandal the Democrats attempt to hang on Trump, there are others tied to their party that are worse. We'll have plenty to talk about in the coming days and weeks.

Mene Mene Franken Upharsin

At the moment, Al Franken is calling reports that he is going to resign tomorrow premature, but he's gone and he knows it. You can't have half your caucus calling for you to resign and then expect to survive. He has been weighed and found wanting in the court of public opinion, and his continued presence in the Senate complicates the efforts of his party to keep the heat on Roy Moore. If Chuck Schumer wants Franken out, he'll be out. And Schumer wants him out.

So that means Mark Dayton will be appointing a successor. The Star Tribune believes Lt. Gov. Tina Flint "Abbatoir" Smith, former Planned Parenthood honcho, will get the nod as a caretaker and that a full-on raging battle for the seat will take place in the fall 2018 special election to fill the seat for the remaining two years of Franken's term. The notion is Smith will not be interested in staying in Washington. Are we sure of that? It's pretty nice in D.C. and I'm sure Planned Parenthood would love to have their own personal senator, beyond the 48 or so they already have.

So let's handicap the field:

Tina Flint Smith. Whether she'd want to stay or not, she'd be a completely loyal soldier for Schumer. She also would not likely get in the way of Amy Klobuchar's ambitions. I think there's a strong chance she'd get the nod.

Lori Swanson. Currently the attorney general, she's better at making waves and offering soundbites than Smith, but her prosecutor profile is perhaps a little too close to Klobuchar's for Amy's comfort. However, if Dayton wants to reward Swanson for her hard work as a DFL apparatchik by giving her a head start, this could happen.

Keith Ellison. Some of the more excitable conservative commentators think Ellison would be the pick, but I don't see it. I seriously doubt he could win a statewide election, and there have been enough rumors about his zipper issues over the years that he could get the same treatment Franken has received. He's reached his career apex as the congressman for CD-5 and he's smart enough to know it.

Betty McCollum. She's stayed in Washington for nearly 20 years by living inside the lapel pocket of Nancy Pelosi. If McCollum ran for statewide office, she'd have to speak. That wouldn't go well for her. No chance.

Ilhan Omar. The DFL has high hopes for her, but she's not ready. And Scott Johnson has a few questions for her that she's never really answered.

Chris Coleman. The outgoing St. Paul mayor, who wants Mark Dayton's job, but Tim Walz is standing in the way. I could see Coleman making the switch from the governor's race and take a shot at the seat in 2018, especially if Smith gets the nod and does not run. It's also possible for Walz to decide he'd rather run for the Senate, but I think he'll have a better chance running for governor.

John Choi. A darkhorse. Currently the Ramsey County attorney, he's been less overtly partisan than some of the other county attorneys and he's been generally successful in navigating a couple of high-profile cases, especially involving the scandals at the Archdiocese. He didn't get Jeronimo Yanez convicted, but sending a cop to jail is awfully tough to do. He could get the seat and hold it for 30 years.

Who do you think will get the nod? Cast your vote in the comments section!

I Wanna Destroy You

First, a little musical number:

We're into destroying things, and people, lately. In discussing the latest round of sexual harassment mongers, Victor Davis Hanson noticed it:

So what are the common pathologies to all these male icons — who are falling as fast as Confederate statutes a few months ago, in our earlier manifestation of collective moral frenzy?

I get nervous when collective moral frenzy gets rolling. It's pitchforks and torches all the way down these days and the capriciousness of it all is troubling. I hold no brief for any of the people accused; I'll also admit I am amused to see nasty, sanctimonious people like Al Franken get their indiscretions broadcast to a less-than-adoring public.

But still. . . ought not a moral imperative be involved? Is there a moral imperative involved? Are we sure? It's striking that Minnesota Public Radio hasn't just removed Garrison Keillor from its airwaves; instead, MPR and its parent company are wiping out any references to Keillor they have. It's the same notion as pulling down a Confederate statue; ought we be in the business of pretending things we now find unpleasant no longer can be mentioned?

Back to our song, written around 1980. Does this stanza ring out?

A pox upon the media
And everything you read
They tell you your opinions
And they're very good indeed

 That almost perfectly captures the argument of any critic of the MSM. I don't have a problem at all with calling down a pox on the poseurs and charlatans who tell me my opinions off their teleprompters. At the same time, can we find any coherent set of principles currently on offer? Or are we all about power -- taking it and using it? Because if we are, there's more to the song:

I wanna destroy you
And when I have destroyed you
I'll come picking at your bone
And you won't have a single atom left
To call your own

Personally, I don't have too many atoms other people would want to have, but still. If the only thing that matters is will, we're in a dangerous place.

In which I actually agree with the Star Tribune editorial board

It's rare, but the Strib editorial board is reading Al Franken's modified limited hangout properly:

The Minnesota Democrat said in one interview it was important "that we listen to women," but then refuted the story of Leeann Tweeden, the USO entertainer who accused him of shoving his tongue down her throat during a rehearsed "kiss." He recalls "a normal rehearsal," but didn't elaborate. On the subsequent allegations of women who say he groped them during photos — specifically, that he grabbed their buttocks — Franken apologized, but for what, exactly?

He said he does not recall groping and said he "would never intentionally" squeeze or grope a woman but often hugs people. Is he suggesting these women could not distinguish between a friendly embrace and groping? Or that at his age he somehow groped unintentionally? Can one credibly apologize for acts without acknowledging they occurred?

Yep. And there's more:

Under such circumstances, Franken's apology is less a statement of accountability and more akin to "I'm sorry for what you think I did." 

Don't ask Al what he thinks of you, he might not give the answer that you want him to.

My guess -- the Dems and their allies don't really want Al Franken to be the hill on which they die. I suspect others have done far worse things than Franken, who as always is more of an opportunist than anything else. You can safely assume a lot of other people in the 202 area code have stories that they would prefer are not shared. Franken also does not face the voters until 2020. He's dearly hoping the news cycle will move on. Most likely, it will.

Weekend wrapup

Sort of a lightning round, I guess:

• Apparently saving John Conyers and Al Franken is more important than defeating Roy Moore; that's the best conclusion I can draw from this weekend's latest political machinations. Sexual misconduct of varying degrees brings the ick factor, but it's not good form for Conyers to end his long career with his pants around his ankles. And, apparently, Al Franken does enjoy the droit du seigneur and can get by with the random grope because his followers were able to manufacture enough votes in 2008 to get him over the top, so to speak. The Dems were hoping to steal a seat in Alabama, but if they have to protect their own people from accusations over their sexual conduct, they aren't going to be able to attack Moore's long past predations. It's a tough gig to go full-on Victorian when your entire party is about smashing conventions most of the time.
• I usually leave the football ranting to Benster, but I am amused at the transparent machinations of College Football, Inc., LLC, in trying to keep a lid on the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers don't play a particularly marketable style of football but are nonetheless undefeated, a claim no other team in the so-called Power 5 can make. From what I can tell, the only team in the Big Ten that is allowed to be discussed in polite company is Ohio State, who must stop the Badgers to prevent them from gaining a national audience. It would not do for the vaunted Committee to leave the Badgers on the outside if they win the Big Ten Championship, so something must be done. ESPN has invested a lot of coin in the Southeastern Conference, and their prerogatives must be at the forefront. The Big Ten is in bed with Fox, so a representative that isn't Ohio State is a problem. 
• Must protect precious. Must protect precious.
• Time sells itself to a company associated with the Koch Brothers. It will be interesting to see if we see a change in how Time Magazine (yes, they are still in business) operates now.

Safe bet

There will be more of these:

A woman says Al Franken pulled her in tightly and put his hand on her buttocks in 2010 while posing for a picture at the Minnesota State Fair, the second allegation of improper conduct against the Democrat and first involving his time as a senator.

Lindsay Menz told CNN last week for a report broadcast Monday that the interaction with the Minnesota senator made her feel “gross.” She said she immediately told her husband that Franken had “grabbed” her bottom and that she posted about it on Facebook.

It's not particularly difficult to figure out that a guy who treats people badly for a living, as Franken repeatedly demonstrated during his comedy career, would not place a lot of value on human dignity.

Franken’s office did not respond to repeated Associated Press messages seeking comment.

With the Capitol empty due to Thanksgiving break, reaction to the latest allegation against Franken were muted compared to an outcry last week — and Democrats nationally and in Minnesota were silent.

Of course. There will be other accusers, though. And the silence won't be sustainable forever.

Meanwhile, in other things now beyond Al Franken's grasp. . .

. . . Al Franken's blue slip is now made of Charmin:

Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras’ candidacy for a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals received new life on Thursday, when a key U.S. senator said he would do away with a long-standing tradition that allowed home state senators to stall nominations.

After months of speculation, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Thursday he would proceed with Stras’ confirmation and scheduled a Nov. 29 hearing for Stras and a Fifth Circuit nominee.

Stras was nominated in May by President Donald Trump, but his candidacy has been in limbo since September, when Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., said he was withholding his “blue-slip,” a document that by Senate tradition grants home-state senators the courtesy of approving a hearing for a jurist’s nomination.

Grassley told senators Thursday that the blue slip could not be used by home-state senators as “veto power” over nominees.

While I'm guessing the timing of this announcement was coincidental, it's yet another sign that Franken's clout as a politician continues to wane.

Stras is a conservative, but no one familiar with his career as a jurist in Minnesota thinks he's a hack. As the linked article from the Star Tribune mentions, he has received support from across the legal community in Minnesota. He's clearly qualified. And he'll be headed for the 8th Circuit soon.

The Jester's Thorny Crown

Before you consider the fate of Al Franken, it's worth looking what the accusation was, directly from the his accuser, Leeann Tweeden:

When I saw the script, Franken had written a moment when his character comes at me for a ‘kiss’. I suspected what he was after, but I figured I could turn my head at the last minute, or put my hand over his mouth, to get more laughs from the crowd.

On the day of the show Franken and I were alone backstage going over our lines one last time. He said to me, “We need to rehearse the kiss.” I laughed and ignored him. Then he said it again. I said something like, ‘Relax Al, this isn’t SNL…we don’t need to rehearse the kiss.’

He continued to insist, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable.

We are talking about events in 2006. We are talking about a man who had been married for 31 years and was 55 years old at the time. Back to Tweeden:

He repeated that actors really need to rehearse everything and that we must practice the kiss. I said ‘OK’ so he would stop badgering me. We did the line leading up to the kiss and then he came at me, put his hand on the back of my head, mashed his lips against mine and aggressively stuck his tongue in my mouth.

I immediately pushed him away with both of my hands against his chest and told him if he ever did that to me again I wouldn’t be so nice about it the next time.

I walked away. All I could think about was getting to a bathroom as fast as possible to rinse the taste of him out of my mouth.

I felt disgusted and violated.

Not long after, I performed the skit as written, carefully turning my head so he couldn’t kiss me on the lips.

55 years old, remember. Franken wasn't done:

Other than our dialogue on stage, I never had a voluntary conversation with Al Franken again. I avoided him as much as possible and made sure I was never alone with him again for the rest of the tour.

Franken repaid me with petty insults, including drawing devil horns on at least one of the headshots I was autographing for the troops.

But he didn’t stop there.

The tour wrapped and on Christmas Eve we began the 36-hour trip home to L.A. After 2 weeks of grueling travel and performing I was exhausted. When our C-17 cargo plane took off from Afghanistan I immediately fell asleep, even though I was still wearing my flak vest and Kevlar helmet.

It wasn’t until I was back in the US and looking through the CD of photos we were given by the photographer that I saw this one:

I'm your handyman

Tweeden's reaction? Well, what do you think?

I couldn’t believe it. He groped me, without my consent, while I was asleep.

I felt violated all over again. Embarrassed. Belittled. Humiliated.

How dare anyone grab my breasts like this and think it’s funny?

It's not funny. In the least. But what do you expect from a guy who would say something like this in a major publication?

In the New York Magazine article, dated March 13, 1995, entitled "Comedy Isn't Funny: Saturday Night Live At Twenty--How The Show That Transformed TV Became A Grim Joke" Franken veers off of a discussion of a skit involving Andy Rooney, and proposes a skit involving the drugging and rape of Lesley Stahl.

Franken: And, "I give the pills to Lesley Stahl. Then, when Lesley's passed out, I take her to the closet and rape her." Or, "That's why you never see Lesley until February." Or, "When she passes out, I put her in various positions and take pictures of her."

The punchline became reality, I guess. You'll notice that the source of this anecdote is City Pages, from back in 2008. It's worth remembering, my fellow Minnesotans saw fit to elect this guy in 2008, and once again in 2014. Yes, the 2008 election was probably stolen, but we don't get to unring that bell, and Franken won a second term comfortably in 2014, when he ran against a painted sheet metal office credenza. I don't think that's exactly who he defeated, but it's been a number of years. It wasn't close, though.

So what do we make of it? My preliminary thoughts:

• Even before I heard of this incident, or read the City Pages piece back in '08, I was pretty sure Franken was a creep. He's always had that vibe. As we entered this time of tumbrels, if I'd had to predict which senators were most likely to be sexual miscreants, Franken would have been in my top 5 choices.
• The continuing saga of Roy Moore complicates Franken's career prospects. If the Democrats needed Franken, they'd have circled the wagons around him by now. They don't need him, though. If Franken were to leave tomorrow, Mark Dayton would have a replacement ready, most likely Lt. Governor Tina "Madame Abbatoir" Flint Smith, who was an executive with Planned Parenthood before she went into the retail side of politics. She would easily have use of the hagiography brigade that has served Amy Klobuchar so well over the years.
• The reason Moore matters is simple -- for the Democrats to claim any moral high ground, they need to appear tougher on their reprobates and more full-throated in their denunciations than the professional Republicans have been with Moore. It's more difficult to tut-tut Moore if you're simultaneously protecting Franken. Once Franken gave the Democrats the 60th vote for Obamacare, he's always been living on borrowed time. The moment you are no longer valuable to Chuck Schumer et al., you get this action:

• But wait -- doesn't Franken have value to the DFL? Not as much as you'd think. He ran well behind Barack Obama in '08 and he did nothing to lift the overall ticket in 2014, as Dayton and everyone else in the DFL won their races comfortably. And while it hasn't been fashionable for the DFL rank-and-file to bash Franken, there are more than a few people in the party who view him as something less than a team player. Some of the Metrocrats are hyenas, too.
• If I were to bet, I'd say Franken only survives if no one else comes forward. But if I were to bet, someone else will come forward. Franken was a reprobate long before he became a politician and if there's value in dropping on a dime on him now, and there's every reason to imagine there is value, we'll have more accusers. Some may even have pictures.

We'll get to Al Franken anon

Get your Götterdämmerung on. And getcha popcorn. If anyone deserves a trip through the sex creep spin cycle, it's our self-satisfied, sanctimonious junior senator. In the meantime, forgive me for a post with more tags than text.

I'm a comedian, you see

Al Franken was joking, you see:

Sen. Al Franken on Monday said that remarks he made more than 15 years ago — before he became a senator — about Sen. John McCain’s military service were a joke.

The Minnesota Democrat’s remarks are similar to those of Donald Trump, who ignited a firestorm after telling a crowd in Iowa on Saturday that McCain is “not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”

So what did our august solon say, exactly?

Franken’s remarks also appeared in a 2000 Salon article.

That story quotes Franken as saying, “I have tremendous respect for McCain, but I don’t buy the war hero thing. Anybody can be captured. I thought the idea was to capture them. As far as I’m concerned, he sat out the war.”

Franken did, too:

During Vietnam, I was in college, enjoying my student deferment. The government wisely felt that, in my case, military service was less important than completing my studies to prepare me for my chosen career: comedian.

Of course. Franken is still a comedian, you see:

He also condemned Trump’s remarks from Saturday, saying “I don’t know what’s going on in Donald Trump’s head or through his hair, but I condemn him for a lot of things he’s said.”

I'm sure we'll just accept ol' Al's explanation. Why wouldn't we? We take Jon "Clown Nose On, Clown Nose Off" Stewart as a legitimate news purveyor, except when we don't. That's how we roll in America. Accept it, haters.

The Donald and Its Discontents

Ahem.

• Donald Trump speaks for himself, unless he's using Al Franken's old material (h/t Althouse via Reason Magazine). Senator McCain's colleague wrote in 2000: I doubt I could cross the line and vote Republican. I have tremendous respect for McCain but I don’t buy the war hero thing. Anybody can be captured. I thought the idea was to capture them. As far as I’m concerned he sat out the war. I bet McCain and Franken yuk it up over that in the ol' Senate cloakroom.
• The Wall Street Journal's editorial page, in the interest of curing Trump fever, make Trump's point quite clearly: Some Americans may find it satisfying 16 months from Election Day to tell pollsters they’d vote for him, but that doesn’t mean conservative elites should validate this nonsense. Are you part of the conservative elite? Do you want to be part of this elite? The elite seems to have trouble winning national elections. Are the elite's concerns your concerns?
• It's hardly a novel thought, but let's just say it -- the reason that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are garnering enthusiasm is the same. There's a sense out here, beyond the Potomac and the Hudson, that our betters aren't listening to the concerns of the people our betters purport to represent. Setting the politics aside for a moment, the only real difference between the Obama years and the presidencies of every president since, well, Grover Cleveland is velocity. The federal government always gets bigger, but it's even more voracious under Obama. Do you get the sense that any of the mainstream candidates are going to change that trajectory?